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One of the best ways to get more traffic to your blog is to get linked back from other blogs. If your blog’s new, then most of the people visiting your site won’t have a clue who you are or what you blog about, so you have to make a great first impression.

As the saying goes, you only get one first impression and you need to grab each new visitor’s attention and compel them to stick around and check out your blog. Here’s a few tips to do just that:

  1. Include your photo in the header of every page. I do it on my blog and John does it with his favicon and on his Who Is John Chow? page. Having your photo on your blog shows readers you’re a real person and that you’re not hiding behind your words. With so many faceless blogs floating around people will appreciate the fact you’ve taken the time to show them who you are. You can go one step further by creating an “About Me” page…
  2. Create an honest, detailed “About Me” page. I think every blog should have a long, detailed page that talks about you, the writer of the blog. It should include all of your accomplishments (and failures) to date, as well as your hobbies and interests. People relate to people, and after reading your about page you want readers to feel like they’ve made a connection with you, which will make sure they stick around and check out some of your blog posts.
  3. Setup a page for visitors searching for specific content. John and I were just talking on MSN messenger about how he wants to get to the front page of Google for the phrase “make money online” and I suggested checking the referrer and if the person came from Google with the search phrase “make money online” that he setup a simple page to tell people who he is, what he stands for and list the top 10 posts in his blog about how to make money online.A lot of commercial sites track search phrases to do this and it works really well. Visitors appreciate that you’ve taken the time to point them in the right direction and thus they stick around longer. In business this is called having a “message to market match”. That is, your message (blog) is what your market (visitors) were looking for.
  4. Be yourself and speak your mind. Your blog is your personal stomping ground to write about whatever you want. Never, ever, ever skew your views or opinions on a topic just because someone has promise to pay you for it. You’ll lose your credibility faster than you can say “zero traffic”. Always be honest, open and upfront with your readers, and if you think something sucks just tell them.

I hope these tips can help you increase the “stickiness” of your blog - that is, making sure new visitors stick around longer. If you have any more suggestions leave them as comments below :)

This post was “guest blogged” my me, Mitchell Harper. I also run my own blog over at HarpzOn.com where I talk about getting traffic, marketing, copywriting, etc. I have been online for over 10 years and run a successful software company called Interspire.

Find out what I am doing right now by following me on Twitter! If you like this post then please consider subscribing to my full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by Email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

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    96 Comments »

    Comment by Bryan Baker
    2007-03-18 18:03:12
    MyAvatars 0.2

    ***Mitch***
    Another guest blogger :-D Always nice for John to have a vacation.
    I’ll start on the “About Bryan Baker” page right now. Great post. Photos…hmmm. I’ve got one above the fold currently.

    Comment by Mitch
    2007-03-18 18:07:59
    MyAvatars 0.2

    HAHAA yeah - John’s not on vacation but he’s a smart guy offering guest bloggers the chance to add to his blog. I’m happy to contribute a few posts every week or so.

    Comment by Justin Slife
    2007-03-18 21:52:57
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Great post Mitch…thanks for the help. I’ll put you’re tips to good use. I think guest bloggers are great (especially for you). I’m checking out your blog right now. Looking forward to your next post here.

     
    Comment by HMTKSteve
    2007-03-19 01:17:33
    MyAvatars 0.2

    What a guy, offering others the chance to guest blog for him. That’s a risky thing to do as one bad post can really ruin things.

    Comment by Marc
    2007-03-19 14:58:34
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I suspect John looks at them… Right John?

    Even if he doesn’t. He’s been pretty selective in the people he chooses. If you looks at their blogs, they’re all fairly well written.

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    Comment by Saman Sadeghi
    2007-03-19 15:17:25
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I’m John selects people he can trust, that’s what I do!

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    Comment by Zach
    2007-03-19 16:02:41
    MyAvatars 0.2

    or you can go the easy way and just write them all yourselve

     
    Comment by Culture Shiok!
    2007-03-21 13:24:34
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Having guest bloggers is working well for John. :mrgreen:

     
     
    Comment by Mark Shead
    2007-03-21 19:05:00
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I am sure he doesn’t just turn over the password and say “go for it”. They get read first.

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    Comment by chrisjos
    2007-03-18 18:04:30
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Great post John…Just the information I needed for my new blog…

    Comment by John Chow
    2007-03-18 18:14:07
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Thanks, but I didn’t write this post. :)

    Comment by Mitch
    2007-03-18 18:15:37
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I’ll take the credit for that! :twisted:

    Comment by chrisjos
    2007-03-18 18:26:31
    MyAvatars 0.2

    My bad Mitch….. :sad:

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    Comment by Mitch
    2007-03-18 18:29:55
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Hehe its OK! That evil face is too evil. I meant for it to be a smiling kind of evil face :smile:

     
     
    Comment by Dax Desai
    2007-03-18 22:51:04
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Hmmm. “honest” about me? John says he’s evil. Evil is pretty popular on Technorati these days :grin: :evil:

    (Comments wont nest below this level)
    Comment by Mark Shead
    2007-03-21 19:06:08
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Evil is a very nice marketing ploy. And it lets you get by with doing things like eating live lobsters.

     
     
    Comment by Marc
    2007-03-19 15:01:09
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Congrats Mitch. I’m sure being featured here will be a boon to your blog :)

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    Comment by Aris
    2007-03-18 18:17:39
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I think he was thanking you to have this info on here, John. :twisted:

     
     
     
    Comment by Tyler
    2007-03-18 18:06:30
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I just updated my avatar for MyBlogLog with a picture of me holding my new (well ok my mum’s) new toy.

    I do like the black dragon I had before, but I look at people’s avatars of themselves and always thought that it would be fun to be able to get a decent image for mine of me.

    Comment by Bryan Baker
    2007-03-18 18:08:23
    MyAvatars 0.2

    ***Tyler***
    Nice avatar. Personal avatars are what I like to see. Anyone with an avatar of a naked girl or some freaky eyeball is just annoying.

    Comment by Culture Shiok!
    2007-03-21 12:41:32
    MyAvatars 0.2

    or some black silhouette… *wink*

     
    Comment by Mark Shead
    2007-03-21 19:08:55
    MyAvatars 0.2

    So is that actually a picture of you with everything blacked out?

     
     
    Comment by David
    2007-03-18 21:02:16
    MyAvatars 0.2

    hmm..that looks like a nice new toy!! I’m in the market for a dSLR…can’t wait till I get one!!!

     
     
    Comment by Aris
    2007-03-18 18:16:26
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Great post, Mitch. Putting my own picture in my blog? I have thought about it but may be after I retire. :-)

    Comment by Bryan Baker
    2007-03-18 18:17:52
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Yikes? :mrgreen:

     
    Comment by Culture Shiok!
    2007-03-21 12:42:31
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Why wait til you retire?

     
     
    Comment by Aris
    2007-03-18 18:21:19
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Congratulation John. You’re in the first page on ‘make money online’ in google in US now. Next question is, when are you going to surpase the #5 position of Probologer. :twisted:

    Comment by Mitch
    2007-03-18 18:23:23
    MyAvatars 0.2

    He’s only on page 2 on Google.com for me.. he’s been on page 1 for Google Australia (I’m in Sydney) and has been for a while. Now to get my blog to the first page… :twisted:

    Comment by Bryan Baker
    2007-03-18 18:32:42
    MyAvatars 0.2

    You can do it bro…good content will power you to the top, and so far you’ve got only that.

    Comment by Aris
    2007-03-18 18:44:14
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Just to make sure, I went to click on that link and was taken to this page. I think it’s a matter of time. We all know that in less than 3 days finally the source of evil made it to the front page in the US. :twisted:

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    Comment by Aris
    2007-03-18 19:45:01
    MyAvatars 0.2

    May be it takes time to propagate down to Australia. Last night I was confused when Albert posted about John was on the first page. But both Albert and John clarified it later that it was from the down under. Yes, I know you’re from Sydney. Hopefully one day I could visit that great city before my son moves to other place.

     
     
    Comment by lyndonmaxewell
    2007-03-19 04:35:44
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Problogger has a strong base support, so John probably need much more of that. :D

    Comment by Mark Shead
    2007-03-21 19:13:09
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Problogger also has 20,000 people reading the feed. That will take quite a while to top.

     
     
     
    2007-03-18 18:38:33
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I have to say mitch has definitely made a name for himself…in blogging in such a short amount of time!

    Hey mitch if you can point me in a good direction for getting my blog out there. A lot of the same things that you implement on your blog and monetize with don’t really work well with my audience considering my blog is about how to start a clothing line from scratch.

    any help is appreciated? contact me dobizo@dobizo.com

     
    Comment by Michael Kwan
    2007-03-18 18:42:18
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Nice post. I should get around to getting a good picture of myself up.

    Comment by Aris
    2007-03-18 18:45:53
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I think the one like your avatar would be good Michael. :twisted:

    Comment by Michael Kwan
    2007-03-18 23:03:40
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I’m not sure how the evil smilie fits into that statement, but I think that might be a good idea. :cool:

    Comment by Saman Sadeghi
    2007-03-19 15:21:29
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I really think it would help people find the real Micheal Kwan!

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    Comment by Michael Kwan
    2007-03-19 23:40:46
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Well, I just put up a picture on my about page: btr.michaelkwan.com/about/

    What do you guys think?

     
     
     
     
     
    Comment by Everyday Weekender
    2007-03-18 18:49:46
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Great post Mitch! very useful

     
    Comment by Jason
    2007-03-18 19:00:51
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Thanks for the tips Mitch!

    Comment by Mitch
    2007-03-18 19:16:13
    MyAvatars 0.2

    No probs Jason. Loving the name of your blog :cool:

     
     
    Comment by Yumcha Girl Subscribed to comments via email
    2007-03-18 19:21:46
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Very good post Mitch! I did make a lengthy “About Me” page and funnily enough, that’s one of the most popular pages! Thanks for the information and I will make sure to read your regular blog. Cheers.

     
    Comment by StormVideographer
    2007-03-18 19:41:42
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Great post Mitch! :grin:

     
    Comment by Jeff Kee
    2007-03-18 19:49:46
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I need to get some time to re-design my blog.. gahh. time time time.

    Comment by Bryan Baker
    2007-03-18 20:04:04
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Control your time or your time will control you.

    Comment by Saman Sadeghi
    2007-03-19 15:30:30
    MyAvatars 0.2

    No kidding, I want to sit and write more content, but I get side tracked so easily!

    Comment by Mark Shead
    2007-03-21 19:14:14
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Sidetracked with commenting here?

    (Comments wont nest below this level)
     
     
     
    Comment by David
    2007-03-18 21:07:44
    MyAvatars 0.2

    yes..time..time…time…where does it all go!!! and really!! Why can’t I be more organized and more efficient???

    Comment by Zach
    2007-03-19 16:05:21
    MyAvatars 0.2

    I always find myself taking a while to write because i get to sidetracked

    Comment by Michael Kwan
    2007-03-19 23:42:06
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Then don’t get sidetracked :smile:

    I used to write with music playing or the TV on… yeah, not such a bright idea.

    (Comments wont nest below this level)
     
     
    Comment by Mark Shead
    2007-03-21 19:16:57
    MyAvatars 0.2

    My site is exactly for someone with your problem. :)

     
     
     
    Comment by David Ogletree
    2007-03-18 20:43:43
    MyAvatars 0.2

    Since everybody here just likes to give “great post” comments and not talk about what was said or talk about who actually made the post I thought I would make a useful comment.

    You make the point “Setup a page for visitors searching for specific content”. That statement and what you continued to say about it makes no since. Are you saying that you create a page about “make money online” or are you talking about redirecting the user to another page if they come from google for that term. If you mean redirect that is against the Google TOS and will get you banned from Google.

    Comment by Mitchell Harper
    2007-03-18 21:42:00
    MyAvatars 0.2

    David: I’m not talking about redirecting them. I’m talking about showing them content they are interested in at the top of your site if they come from Google.

    For example, you search for “how to make money online” and end up at John Chow. At the top of the page John adds something like:

    “Hi. I’m John Chow. I noticed you were searching for information on making money online. Here are the top 10 posts about how to make money from my blog:

    1. xxxxxxxxxxxx
    2 xxxxxxxx”

    etc. Just a block of info at the top of the page they come to that related back to their search terms. No redirecting. Hope that makes sense.

    Comment by Saman Sadeghi
    2007-03-19 15:32:46
    MyAvatars 0.2

    So, how do you suggest doing that with a WordPress blog?